Combined relay and directional coupler



Dec. 14, 1954 N. J. THOMPSON 2,697,207

COMBINED RELAY AND DIRECTIONAL COUPLER Filed April 25, 1952 14' if 41 4222 I 27 I 2 r Z3 Z] 36 5a 37 i 39 25 2a J0 9 Z9 1a 11;

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Wal z of Ziramwzsmy BY United States Patent Otiiice 2,697,207 PatentedDec. 14, 1954 COMBINED RELAY AND DIRECTIONAL COUPLER Noel J. Thompson,Cedar Rapids, Iowa, assignor to Collins Radio Company, Cedar Rapids,Iowa, a corporation of Iowa Application April 25, 1952, Serial No.284,402 1 Claim. (Cl. 333-7) This invention relates in general to acombination switching and power measuring device.

It is oftentimes desirable in radio communications to use a singleantenna for transmission and reception of energy.

It is an object of this invention to provide a combination powermeasuring and switching means.

Yet another object of this invention is to provide an automaticswitching means wherein the contact switched is coupled to the powermeasuring device.

Further objects, features and advantages of this invention will becomeapparent from the following description and claim when read in view ofthe drawings, in which:

Figure 1 illustrates the apparatus of this invention, and

Figure 2 is a sectional view of the apparatus of Figure 1.

Figure 1 discloses a transmitter 10, a receiver 11, and an antenna 12which are connected, respectively, to a switching and power measuringdevice 13. A pair of indicating dials l4 and 15 are mounted to aprojection 16 attached to the member 13. A relay 17 is also attached tothe member 13.

As shown in the sectional view, Figure 2, the body portion 13 is formedwith an internal generally cylindrical opening 18. The input lines'19,20 and 21 from the transmitter, receiver and antenna, respectively, havetheir outer conductors connected to the body portion 13. The bodyportion 13 might be made of copper, for example.

The inner conductor 22 of line 19 is connected to an internal contact 23which is mounted within one end of the generally cylindrical opening 18.The center contact 24 of line 20 is connected to an internal contact 26within the opening 18 and adjacent the contact 23.

The center contact 27 of the line 21 is connected to a contact 28 at theopposite end of opening 18.

A flexible conducting member or spring 29 is permanently fastened to thecontact 28 and has an engaging portign 30 which may be moved between thecontacts 23 and 2 An opening 31 is formed through the body portion 13and an insulated plunger 32 is received therethrough. The plunger 32engages the member 29. The spring 29 is made of conducting material andis normally biased so as to engage the contact 26. The plunger 32,however, can move it so that it engages contact 23. The relay 17 has amovable armature 33 that has a lever 34 attached thereto. The lever 34is engageable with the plunger 32 to move it when the relay isenergized.

A coupling loop 36 extends through a pair of openings 37 and 38 formedin the body member 13 and is insulated therefrom. A portion 39 of theconductor 36 is parallel to the spring 29. Opposite ends of theconductor 36 are attached to resistors R1 and R2 and diode rectifiers 41and 42. Condensers C1 and C2 are connected across the other side of thediodes 41 and 42, and meters 14 and 15 are connected between the diodesand ground.

The conductor 36, in combination with the resistors R1 and R2,condensers C1 and C2, the diodes 41 and 42, and

the meters 14 and 15, form a double reflectometer capable of measuringreflected and incident power. Such directional couplers are known tothose skilled in the art and for a more detailed description, referencemay be made to Patent No. 2,423,390.

In operation, when it is desired to transmit, the relay 17 is energized,thus moving the spring 29 to engagement with the contact 23 and thedirectional coupler measures the incident and reflected power to andfrom the antenna 12. One of the meters 14 measures the reflected powerand the other measures the incident power.

When it is desired to receive, the relay is de-energized and the spring29 engages contact 26 and thus connects the antenna directly to thereceiver 11.

Since directive couplers normally are used in the power range where morethan a few watts are being transmitted or received, the coupler will beinoperative during the receiving portion of the cycle. This is truebecause generally energy received is at a very low level.

However, when transmission occurs the meter 14 and 15 will measure thereflected and incident power. It is to be noted that the spring 29 formsthe center conductor between the line 21 and the lines 19 and 20. isrequired that the capacitive and inductive coupling between the loop 36and the spring 29 be equal for the position in which contact 30 engagestransmitter contact 23. This principle of directive couplers is morefully set forth in the above mentioned patent.

. It is seen that this invention provides means for reading power andsimultaneously switching from transmit to receive.

Although this invention has been described with respect to a particularembodiment thereof, it is not to be so limited as changes andmodifications may be made therein which are within the full intendedscope of the invention, as defined by the appended claim.

I claim:

Unitary apparatus for alternately switching a first conductor from asecond conductor to a third conductor and measuring incident andreflected power when connected to the second conductor comprising, abody portion formed with a generally cylindrical opening, first,secondand third coaxial cables fastened to said body portion with theouter conductors grounded to said body portion, the inner conductors ofsaid coaxial cables extending withinthe confines of said body portionand terminating withinsaid cylindrical opening, a flexible conductorconnected to the first of said inner conductors within the cylindricalopening, the free end of said flexible conduc tor movable between firstand second positions to contact the second and third inner conductorsrespectively, actuating means mounted on one side of said body portionfor moving said flexible conductor, a coupling loop mounted on theopposite side of said body portion adjacent said flexible conductor, theinductive and capacitive coupling between said loop and said flexibleconductor being of equal value when said conductor is in said firstposition, a directive coupler connected to said conductive loop thecoupling between said loop and said flexible conductor being effectivewhen said flexible conductor is in said first position to render saidcoupler operative to indicate the reflected and incident power.

References Cited in the file of this patent

